Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Up 2% – Here’s Why

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)’s share price shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $119.18 and last traded at $118.88. 4,123,573 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 14,901,843 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on XOM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $123.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bernstein Bank raised their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $141.00 to $138.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Exxon Mobil from $138.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Exxon Mobil from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.05.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $511.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.83.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.77 by ($0.10). Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 9.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $231,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,087 shares in the company, valued at $1,989,570. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,936,737,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 43,983,110 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,731,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,538,694 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 1,524.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,445,922 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $585,818,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110,603 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,936,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,415,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,017,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,950,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

About Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.